


hide the heart of who we are

by Anxiety_Elemental



Series: this, the song of sons and daughters [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game), Warframe
Genre: Additional Tags to Be Added, Crossover, Def Just A Normal Dude Genji, Grineer Winston, Illustrated, M/M, Rail Agent McCree
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2019-09-06
Packaged: 2020-06-02 19:12:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19447789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anxiety_Elemental/pseuds/Anxiety_Elemental
Summary: Jesse’s had jobs go bad before, that much ain’t new. If you want justice in a system where the two major powers are a fascist clone army and a corrupt corporate cult, you’re often on the wrong side of the law. And the law don’t like it when little folks try to upset the status quo.This is why he’s running through an Earth forest, stolen datamass in one hand, revolver in the other, chased by gunfire and enraged shouting.Inaros’s sandyass, he’s really managed to piss them off this time.





	1. a hawk, calling with sparrow's song

**Author's Note:**

> Reminder that this is part of a series, please start from part 1 for that good good world building.
> 
> Part 2 is where we start getting more into the meat of the story, sneak in my fav Overwatch pairing, and enjoy some shenanigans.
> 
> There are no spoilers for Warframe in this chapter.
> 
> Content warnings include mild violence.

Jesse’s had jobs go bad before, that much ain’t new. If you want justice in a system where the two major powers are a fascist clone army and a corrupt corporate cult, you’re often on the wrong side of the law. And the law don’t like it when little folks try to upset the status quo.

This is why he’s running through an Earth forest, stolen datamass in one hand, revolver in the other, chased by gunfire and enraged shouting.

Inaros’s sandy _ass_ , he’s really managed to piss them off this time.

The Grineer soldiers continue to scream at him as he weaves between the trees, lungs burning, his only thought to get as much distance between himself and all the soldiers as possible. There’s so many of them, of course there, are the Grineer make new clones like they think they’re gonna somehow run out, there’s way too many for him to just shoot.

He sees a potential hiding spot, tucked away behind a dense cluster of trees, out of the way and out of sight.

Jesse dashes for the trees and leaps behind them, only to find startled gray eyes staring at him.

Good news is, he’s definitely not Grineer.

Also crouched down in his new hiding spot is a young man about his age, with dark hair, thick eyebrows, and dressed in loose black and green clothes. Oddly enough, he has not one but two swords strapped to his back. Jesse’s never heard of anyone except Tenno wielding swords, and this guy clearly isn’t a Tenno.

“Yo,” says the stranger, bewildered.

“Howdy,” Jesse says, equally so.

They both flinch at the sound of angry voices, much closer now. Maybe this wasn’t such a good hiding spot.

“Name’s McCree,” Jesse says quickly, “You?”

“Genji,” says the stranger, more reflex than introduction.

“Great,” Jesse says, the voices getting even closer, “We need to get outta here right now!”

“I am not - ” Genji begins, and Jesse doesn’t bother to hear him out, grabbing his wrist and bolting from cover. Thankfully, Genji gets the hint and runs to keep pace.

The shouting and the gunfire chases them, he can hear bullets striking the trees around him in a shower of splintered wood and noise. He doesn’t know how long he can keep this pace -

Jesse stumbles as Genji suddenly stops, stock still, “Do you hear that?”

“Hear wh - ” Jesse stops too. He does hear it.

Music.

A fast, electric anthem, wildly out of place in the forest. The music is quickly approaching, growing louder and louder as something draws near.

Three tall, metallic figures leap past him, one of them emitting music, and the Grineer as one immediately turn to their attention to the Warframes.

“Tenno skoom!” One of them screams, and they all open fire on the Tenno, who don’t even flinch, their Warframes absorbing all the damage easily. Two of them fire back, and the third bashes in skulls with mace and shield. A number of Grineer that was overwhelming for Jesse is nothing to the Tenno, they don’t stand a chance.

Jesse doesn’t know enough about Warframes to know which one is which. What he does know is that trouble follows in the Tenno’s footsteps, the kind an ordinary fella like him ain’t equipped to deal with. Time to make himself scarce.

He turns to find that Genji is already gone, probably ran off even before the Tenno started fighting. Probably smarter than Jesse is.

He bolts, putting the fighting and the music and the screaming behind him, if he’s lucky the Grineer will be too distracted to keep chasing him.

There’s a wordless shout, and Jesse looks over his shoulder and sees a lone Grineer lancer, pointing his gun right at Jesse and opens fire.

A dark green blur dashes in front of him, a rapid clatter of metal on metal, and the lancer falls over dead. Genji sheathes his smaller sword and turns to Jesse.

Jesse just watched Genji deflect bullets with a _sword_. He thought only Tenno could do that kind of shit.

He is at once deeply impressed, a little terrified, and maybe somewhat wooed.

“I said,” Genji repeats, Jesse just realizing that Genji had been talking to him, “It is not safe for you here. Do you have a ship nearby?”

“Oh, yes!” Jesse says, still a bit stunned.

“Which way?” Genji asks, waving a hand impatiently.

“That way,” Jesse points, helpfully.

“Then _move_ ,” Genji says, finally breaking through Jesse’s stupor.

Genji follows closely Jesse as he runs through the forest, backtracking through the route he took when he arrived.

There are no more surprises, thankfully. Jesse parked his ship on an old landing pad, overgrown and rusting, not the safest space but he’d hoped he’d go unnoticed. That hadn’t worked out so well.

“You should go now,” Genji says, “The surviving Grineer may still want to chase you. Leave this planet.” And, against all logic and sense, Genji turns to leave.

“What - damn fool!” Jesse grabs Genji by the wrist again, “I’m not about to let you get shot to pieces either!”

Without another hesitation or thought he drags Genji towards the ship, a panel in the side sliding open as they approach.

“Echo!” Jesse shouts as they run aboard the ship, “We need to scram right now!”

_“Acknowledged,”_ says the voice of the ship Cephalon, the ship’s reactors roaring to life.

The ship’s in the air before Jesse can even strap in, shuddering as it breaks through the atmosphere. They're all silent until they’re safely in orbit, and there’s no blaring alarms, no immediate indication they’re still in danger.

“Does it look like we were followed?” Jesse asks, and a display appears next to him, showing a cyan oval, a representation of the ship’s Cephalon.

_“Not that I can detect,”_ Echo says, _“I think the Grineer were distracted enough by the Tenno they didn’t track our escape.”_

Jesse sighs deeply, leaning back in his chair, letting the tension drain away from his body. He got the data and escaped mostly intact, he’s going to call this mission a success.

...Well except for the stranger he kinda sorta kidnapped.

Jesse looks around for Genji, and stops. Genji is standing by the cockpit window, staring out at the view beyond: at Earth, blue, white, and green far below them. A Grineer galleon in orbit the distance, like a spiny slug. The light of distant stars and planets. There’s a sad look on his face, lonely and longing.

“You ever been off-planet?” Jesse asks, speaking softly, as if he’s spotted a rare wild animal, and afraid it will spook.

“It has been,” Genji takes a deep breath, “A very long time.”

“Was gonna say I can take you back home,” Jesse says, “Since I did kinda kidnap you.”

“You were trying to help me escape danger,” Genji says, looking back at Jesse, “I am not angry with you.”

Jesse glances out the window, then back at Genji, “You wanna go back, or...?”

Genji leans against the command console, casual, melancholy gone, “What do you have in mind?” Genji asks, tilting his head to one side, curious.

“Nothing in particular,” Jesse says, and takes a moment to pause, thinking, “You handled yourself pretty well out there, you looking for work?”

Genji shrugs, “I could be. What is your work, exactly?”

“Rail agent, so deliveries, messenger, and occasionally, thief,” Jesse clarifies, holding up the datamass he stole, “Though these days only I work for a group called Overwatch. They’re just getting their footing, but they’re gonna do some real good in the system. You’ll notice the Grineer and I aren’t friends, hope that’s proof enough that I’m serious about trying to do good out here.”

“I noticed,” Genji says with a smirk, “It seems to me you could use some help when it comes to avoiding unwanted attention.”

Jesse laughs, “You got me there! Oh,” he points at Echo’s display, “This is Echo, she runs the ship.”

_“A pleasure to meet you,”_ Echo says.

“A pleasure to meet you too,” Genji says.

“And I can always take you back home whenever you want,” Jesse adds, “Just say the word, even if you’re just homesick, and I can drop you off, no questions or fuss.”

“That is kind of you, thank you, McCree,” Genji says with a nod.

“You can call me Jesse,” he says, “If we’re gonna be working together there’s no need to be formal.”

“Thank you, Jesse,” Genji says, and smiles, and Jesse, after being more than fine working by himself for years, is excited to get started.


	2. a viper blending into wood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :3c
> 
> There are no content or spoiler warnings for this chapter. (Well, very mild Sands of Inaros spoilers, but no one gives a shit about that quest)

After a while, Jesse begins to wonder how he ever got by without Genji.

His own skills were recon, tracking, and shooting lots of bad guys in the head. He _could_ be stealthy, but it was easier for him to hide in plain sight, blend into in a crowd, rather than try to sneak by armed guards and security cameras.

Genji, on the other hand, _excels_ at infiltration.

Jesse isn’t used to collaborating though. It’s been years since he operated with a team, these days preferring to work alone, as many rail agents do. It’s nerve-wracking, sitting in his ship, Echo tracing Genji’s progress as much as she can, unable to do much but sit on his ass and wait for Genji to get back.

Genji always comes back though, with the data or the item they were after and not a scratch on him, no alarms sounding. It’s as if he was born for this.

Not only that, but it’s such a relief to have another person as a lookout. He always had Echo, but the Cephalon was confined to the ship. Genji, on the other hand, could do things like keep nosy Corpus occupied while Jesse brokers a deal with the Solaris right under their noses.

And he does it all armed only with a couple of swords and some throwing stars. He really is something else.

Genji never talks about himself, where he’s from, how he learned to use a sword, none of it. Jesse doesn’t mind or care.

He understands.

\---

Jesse stares out at the gas clouds beyond the ship’s windows, trying to see shapes or patterns in the mass. Genji’s maintaining radio silence for his mission, standard protocol. Jupiter bases don’t have much of a view, and this particular outpost is one of the smallest, and one of the most remote, so there’s barely any distant ships or bases to look at.

_“I have returned,”_ says Genji’s voice over the radio, _“Let me in.”_

Echo does it for him, a panel in the side of the ship slips down, and Genji slips in. As always, he looks like he was out for a light walk and not a dangerous spy mission: his hair only slightly mussed, no cuts or scrapes or burns.

“Special delivery,” Genji says with a grin, holding up the Corpus datamass.

“Smartass,” Jesse says, though he’s grinning too. He takes the datamass, and puts into into a slot on the command console, so Echo can examine it.

“Time to give this a look, Echo, what do you see?”

_“I don’t detect any viruses or...”_ Echo pauses, then a quiet _“Oh.”_

“Oh, what?” Jesse asks.

_“The data has been corrupted,”_ Echo says, _“I can’t read it.”_

Jesse runs a hand down his face, “Damn it, thought this was really gonna get us somewhere.” He glances over at Genji, who’s scowling at the command console.

“You sure you weren’t spotted?” Jesse asks, “These folks will destroy their data if they so much as see their own shadows.”

“I was not,” Genji insists.

Jesse ain’t about to press him, “Maybe the data was already bad,” he says, though he can’t hide his disappointment. This had been a promising lead on the Sentient research the Corpus were doing, guess they’re not getting a piece of that pie, “Let’s just get out of here, I’ll see what we gotta do next.”

The silence is heavy as they escape the atmosphere, and settle into orbit, his ship small and fast enough to go unnoticed.

“Next stop is... Larunda relay,” Jesse says, quickly pulling up and double checking his logs, “Sounds like there’s a big meeting Overwatch is setting up,” Jesse glances over his shoulder, “You’ll get to see...” he trails off, and turns around to face Genji,

Genji looks afraid, posture stiff and eyes wide, as if the situation has been reversed: he had just left a safe haven, and was about to enter enemy territory.

“A Tenno relay?” Genji asks, voice so quiet Jesse almost didn’t hear him.

“Well, yeah,” Jesse says, “Overwatch don’t work for them as such, but they gave us space on one of their relays. We share information, resources, that kind of thing. Just like any other of the syndicates they work with.”

Genji looks away.

Jesse frowns, “What’s wrong?”

“I am not - ” Genji hesitates, “I am not eager to go to a space station run by demons.”

Jesse blinks. He’s never actually heard another person call the Tenno demons before, it’s a pretty old-fashioned view of them. He’s heard lots of different insults for them, usually from bad guys: Betrayers, scum, lizards, maggots, and so on. But not demons.

“If you want to stay on the ship with Echo that’s fine,” Jesse says, still confused, “But I really gotta do this stuff in person.”

“I -” Genji glances down at the floor, “Let me think about it.”

Jesse shrugs, and goes back to plotting the course to Mercury.

\---

They arrive at Larunda relay without incident, all his visas cleared without issue, and no one gave them any trouble on the way. Before he even has a chance to ask, Genji gets up and walks over with a rough “Let’s go.” As they disembark and leave the landing zone, Genji walks close behind Jesse, but other than that doesn’t appear at all uncomfortable. Doesn’t spare a glance at the guards with Lotus emblems on their gear, marking them as agents of the Tenno. Makes sense, for a guy so good at infiltration would also be good at keeping a lid on his feelings. Jesse’ll have to remember to talk to him about it later, if the Tenno make him uncomfortable that’ll be a big problem later. But that’s later.

Jesse walks through the relay’s center deck, massive windows above and below, a stone statue of a Warframe he can’t name. People from different colonies and serving different syndicates gather in groups along the walkways, talking and passing by. As soon as they reach a long hallway, with doors marked by different emblems, they’re met by someone wildly out of place.

It’s a massive individual, wearing bulky, Grineer style armor, and a white mask hides his face. His are legs too short and his arms too long, the severe curve of his spine forcing him to walk on all fours.

He’d be an intimidating figure if Jesse didn’t know him so well.

“Winston!” Jesse shouts, and holds up the datamass with all the info he’s gathered for Overwatch, “Got a special delivery, just for you.”

“McCree, good to see you!” Winston shouts, “Ah, excellent! And just in time. And who’s your friend?”

“This is Genji,” Jesse says, waving a hand at Genji, “I picked him up on Earth. He’s been a big help.”

“McCree mentioned you in his transmissions!” Winston says, “Welcome to Overwatch!”

Genji nods his head, “I am honored.”

“You’re right on time,” Winston says, and motions for them to follow him, “Oh, before I didn’t hear about how the mission to the Ostron colony on Ceres went,” Winston adds, “How’re they doing?”

“Got some bad news for you, big guy,” Jesse says, “Echo detected lots of Infested signatures down there. We turned around real fast.”

He’d been to an Infested base, once. He hadn’t known it had been, at first. No one answered his comms, but he hadn’t left. If people were in trouble he was going to help. But then he’d gotten inside and he’d smelled it, acidic and heavy, like if metal could rot. He saw the growths coming out of the walls, red and black and pustulant. He’d heard the distant groans of the mutated crew. He turned and ran and didn’t look back. Later, he invested in upgraded sensors for his ship, just for detecting Infested lifeforms.

He could go the rest of his life without ever seeing anything like that again.

“...I am sorry to hear,” Winston says, mournful, “They were good people.”

“So what’s this big meeting all about?” Jesse asks, wanting to change the subject real quick.

“Overwatch has been somewhat, uh, disorganize,” Winston admits, sounding embarrassed, “I want to get everyone updated and armed properly.”

There are already a fair number of agents assembled in the hall. Overwatch isn’t very big, only a couple dozen folks at most. There’s a wide variety of people too, some other rail agents (he spots Lena bouncing in her seat), some civilians (he spots Mei, an Ostron scientist, mysteriously still bundled up in thick furs), and a mix of others.

They’re arranged around a table and a projector, currently offline. Next to it is a woman he doesn’t recognize, with a sleek prosthetic arm and dark geometric tattoos across her face.

“Agents of Ovewatch!” Winston shouts, catching everyone’s attention, “Thank you for coming today! This is Satya,” Winston indicates the strange woman with a wave of a massive arm, “She’s from the Perrin Sequence, and I’ve asked her to speak with us today.”

So a Corpus defector, then. Jesse’s halfway curious to see if she’ll manage to get through the talk without a single mention of Profit. Might be unfair of him to think that.

Satya steps forward, hands clasped neatly behind her back, “It is my understanding that part of Overwatch’s directive is to protect civilian populations in case of a Sentient invasion. I was asked to brief you all on what is know about Sentients, and how best to combat them,” Satya says.

“I’ve been told not all ofyou are familiar with Sentients, or how to fight them,” Satya continues, and Jesse wonders if he should take a nap, if this is just going to be a lecture on the basics, “These biomechanical machines were originally developed by the last great human empire, the Orokin, to colonize a far away solar system, to prepare it for human habitation. They were created with unique features to aid in this task: adaptation systems so they can work in any extreme environment, and the ability to procreate so they can continue to create more units without outside aid.”

“Wake me up when we get to something important,” Jesse whispers to Genji. Satya must’ve heard him, because she sends a stern frown his way. He sits up straighter in his seat, appropriately chastised. He hears Lena giggle.

“But for reasons not understood, these machines gained sentience during their journey, hence the name ‘Sentients’,” Satya says, turning her attention back to her audience, “They returned to our system with the intent to exterminate all of humanity, and they nearly succeeded. If it were not for the development of the Tenno and their Warframes, the Old War would have ended very differently. The Sentients were nearly all destroyed, and were no longer a threat, until very recently.

“Since the Tenno’s reawakening, there have been increased sightings of Sentients,” Satya activates the projector, “First it was oculysts on Neptune, simple forward scouts,” she says, and an image of a Sentient appears, made of intricate, smooth shapes, “Then conculysts and battalysts on Lua, frontline combat units,” another pair of images, “Mimics on Earth,” another image, “And now a ropalolyst, a massive aerial unit, on Jupiter,” the last image is much bigger than the others, “They’re getting larger and more dangerous, a precursor to a greater invasion force.”

“This brings to me to why I was asked to speak with you,” Satya says, and with a wave of an arm indicates a nearby table with an assortment of simple weapons laid out.

“One of the reasons Sentients were so dangerous, was their ability to turn our own technology against us,” Satya says, “The Orokin developed what they called no-tech weapons: ballistic guns, swords and bows, and other simple weapons, which could not be interfered with. My colleagues and I have access to historical blueprints for such weapons, supplemented by information your organization has provided. It is imperative that you grow used to using these, as these may become your only means of defense if you are faced with a Sentient.”

She waves a hand, beckoning the assembled agents to look over the weapons. Jesse spots a revolver, similar to the one he already has. Except his gun, though it’s still a simple manual six-shooter, still has some modifications in it. Enhanced damage, armor penetration, that sort of thing. He picks up the no-tech gun, heavier than he expected.

“You may want one of these as well,” Satya says, sliding a knife over in his direction, “There is a reason such weapons were popular during the Old War.”

He takes the knife, and surveys the other melee weapons: a sword, a spear, staff, some other things he doesn’t know the name of. “Gonna be rough,” he says, mostly thinking loud, “If all we got left are these things.”

“The Old War was long and brutal,” Satya says, her stoic expression never wavering despite the topic, “At least we have the benefit of foresight.”

“I’ve been trying to warn the folks I talk to,” Jesse says, “Can’t say how many of them believe me, or think it’s that serious.”

“Ideally, it will not be,” Satya says, “It is one thing if the Tenno can handle any Sentient threat on their own, but another if even they are overwhelmed. We do not know where, when, or how they may attack the system. We must be prepared. Though I cannot say I enjoy making these...” Satya’s expression sours, “Barbaric instruments.”

“I am inclined to agree,” Genji says, examining one of the swords, “These are weapons from a more brutal era.”

Jesse squints at him. A strange thing for a guy still using swords to say.

“We have little choice,” Satya says, “If the Sentients do decide to make another concentrated attack against humanity then these will be our best chance, inelegant as they are.”

“Let us hope it does not come to that,” Genji says.

\---

After Satya’s presentation, Winston wraps up and assigns the assembled agents their duties. He tells Jesse to just keep doing what he’s doing, followed by a thumbs up. Jesse is a little disappointed, he was hoping for less talking and sneaking and more shooting. He misses the shooting.

Except, he reminds himself, the shooting might come when an army of ancient biomechanical terrors descend upon the system to annihilate humanity. He’ll just have to live with it for now.

After they leave the relay, they enter into a steady orbit around Mercury. Jesse is waiting on a couple of contacts to get back to him, before he’ll plot out where to go next. A break will be nice, he thinks even if it’s just brief. Except, Jesse looks over at Genji, sitting off to one side, cross-legged on the floor but slouched over, staring out into space, small and absent.

Genji is never chatty, but this silence is unusual. He’s been with Jesse when he’s given his Overwatch recruitment speech, which includes a warning about a possible Sentient invasion. It’s one thing to say it, it’s another to be suddenly confronted with the real possibility of another total war. It’s easy to imagine why Genji might be upset.

So Jesse gets up from the command console, and sits down next to him. Genji doesn’t acknowledge his presence, but doesn't move away either.

“Anything you wanna talk about?” Jesse asks.

“No,” Genji says, short and final.

“Anything I can do to help?” Jesse asks.

Genji glances over at Jesse, briefly, then away again, “I have learned to accept that I cannot change the past, but some days it is... harder.”

Oh.

Well, he knows about that, too.

“...I was born on Mars,” Jesse begins, maybe against his better judgment, “Was off-planet when the Grineer invaded. Me and a friend stowed away on a cargo ship just before. We were bored of living in a speck in the middle of nowhere, and just wanted an adventure. Turns out that’s the only reason we didn’t get shot up with the rest of the colony.”

It’s not something he likes telling people. No part of Mars was that popular a destination, especially not the isolated little colony he grew up in. People always ask what it was like, only knowing it for what it’s become. No way of knowing about the histories, the people who lived in those sands.

“I went back once, for a job,” Jesse continues, “It’s all ruins now. They only thing they maintain is the terraforming equipment, everything else got swallowed up by the desert. Not keen on going back again.”

“I am sorry you had to endure such tragedy,” Genji says, softly, “It is hard, losing your home and family to sudden violence.”

“Yeah, well,” Jesse shrugs, “Was a long time ago, and all that.”

“...I was an assassin,” Genji murmurs, and Jesse startles, “And a spy.”

“You don’t gotta say nothing you don’t want to,” Jesse says.

“I want to,” Genji says, still looking down at the floor, “I would convince my target I was a friend, grow close enough to get the information I needed, and then kill them. I believed I was keeping my family safe by doing this, but in my heart I feared that I only made the danger greater. When I found others who also doubted, instead of turing them in, as my duty demanded, I joined them. We suffered great losses, but we escaped and hid far away from my people’s wrath.”

Genji never talks about himself, even in vague terms. This is a rare and precious thing, and he has no idea what to do with it, or what to say. ‘Thank you for telling me’ feels fake, and ‘that sucks’ feels dismissive.

“Glad you’re here now,” he says, finally. Genji finally glances back up at him, his lips twitch then he smiles, just a little. Slowly, cautiously, giving Genji plenty of time to pull away, he warps an arm around Genji’s shoulder, a light touch. Genji closes his eyes, sighs, and leans into Jesse’s side. They settle in, warm and quiet.

For a little while, there’s no need for words.

\---

“I have located the vault,” Genji says into his comms. He’s perched up high on the roof of the Grineer base, keeping an eye on the soldiers below, “It will take some time to get around the security systems.”

_“Still look doable?”_ Jesse asks.

“With time,” Genji confirms, “I am watching their patrols now. When I see an opening I will move in.”

_“Got it,”_ Jesse says, _“Well, you know the drill. Give me a holler when you’re done,”_ Genji switches off the comms, planning to maintain radio silence for the duration of the mission.

Genji doesn’t need to wait and see the patrols, nor will the vault be difficult to break into. He knows where every sensor, every control panel, every turret is. He can feel the thrum of power through the whole base, like blood through veins. It would be nothing to break them open and feast, to obliterate every speck of life in this base.

It’s not something he likes to think about, now.

There is no need for such measures anyway, he has always been good at getting into and out of places he isn’t supposed to be. Whether through stealth or by trickery, by shadow, sword, or words, this is what he was born to do. But he delays because needs a moment away from Jesse, from the ship, from Echo’s sensors.

Genji retrieves a second comms, one he’d activated once he was out of range of Jesse’s ship. He can’t dawdle, he doesn’t know how much time they have.

“Master,” Genji says, speaking quickly, “I’ve been to Overwatch’s base, they’re making weapons, they’re working with the Tenno - ”

_“Calm yourself,”_ says the voice in his ear, gentle and patient, _“Take a moment if you need to. What happened?”_

Genji closes his eyes, and takes a deep breath, then another, his free hand shaking, “McCree, the rail agent I’ve been traveling with, he took me to the people he works for. They’re building an arsenal of no-tech weapons. They’re working with a historian, I recognized some of the models they had. They are serious about arming themselves.”

_“Do they still think there is an invasion coming?”_

“Yes,” Genji says, “They have been tracking sightings across the system, there were more than we realized. I think they are right, there is another invasion coming.”

_“Do they know when they might arrive?”_

“No.”

_“Then we may not have much time,”_ says the voice, _“I will speak with the rest. You have done so much already, you can come home, there is no need to put yourself in such danger.”_

Genji glances back the way he came, where he knows McCree is waiting impatiently for him to return. He does not miss the worry on his face when Genji returns from a mission, no matter how quickly he tries to bury it. Far too soft and sincere a thing, for his line of work.

And far too trusting.

Back on Earth, Genji had been scouting a new Grineer base, which has sprung up far too close to the colony for his liking, when he’d spotted a rail agent running for his life. Genji hadn’t planned to intervene, but the rail agent had run right into him, and decided it was his job to save Genji. Unneeded, but such kindness is rare in the universe, and Genji recognized its value. At first, Genji just (selfishly, he will admit) wanted some time off-planet, it had been _so long._ But then he learned more about McCree’s missions, and what his employers were planning. He has more than enough information now, to help defend his home if need be. And Jesse always did say he would take him back to Earth, whenever he wanted.

But none of the others can leave the colony for long without risking detection. He is their eyes and ears, and there is no one else in the universe that will help his people.

“Not yet,” Genji says.

_“I understand,”_ says the voice, with a note of sadness, _“Iris embrace you.”_

“And you,” Genji says, and switches off the comms. He takes one more deep breath, exhales, and turns his attention back to the task at hand.

He hopes there is nothing too important in this vault. He doesn’t suspect so, but he will take the time to check all the same. He doesn’t know how he will keep his cover if he has to keep destroying data.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >:3c

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to yell at me over at [Twitter](https://twitter.com/AnxietyElementl)


End file.
